Saturday 7^th December 2002
Now 6 different flights in 25 days, plus one overnight coach journey and one international train journey. Actually doesn't feel like always travelling. Friday/Saturday two flights of 3 hours duration each with 1 hour between, leaving 2250 local time and arriving 1130 local time. Lose Pete's cap (left on first plane) and lots of sleep because of time zone and lack of opportunity on planes. On arrival in Christchurch we are informed that the temperature is 23 degrees. Clear formalities in double quick time. Quarantine needs to know if carrying any food, so declare airline biscuits and bars of chocolate. Also want to know if been in contact with animals or walked in forests - we've done all these. They decide to inspect our boots (which we haven't worn) and then pass us through. But there is no delay and baggage is on carousel before we get there. It was packed in containers in the aircraft with clever machinery for lifting and manoeuvring them.

On exit from baggage claim is woman holding up sign with Pete's name on. From the car hire company. Takes us to depot where we pick up car. Nissan Sunny (Super Saloon). Automatic transmission - Pete has to adjust again. Indicators still on right, starting to get good at that! Find hostel, Dorest House. Buy two BBH (Budget Backpacker Hostel) cards at NZ$40 each. Card gives 10% discount at BBH hostels and has $20 telephone calls. Hostel very satisfactory, not far from city and next to pretty river with people punting. Private double room with several shower rooms and toilets along the corridor. Two kitchens - well equipped. Obviously did well to book as now fully booked for weeks- the manager reckons there was a surge of bookings here after the Bali bombing. We both cat nap for about an hour. Have to try to keep going until late to get sleep patterns sorted out. Hopefully won't be as bad as Bangkok. Internet access available for fee but no facilities for laptop. Looks like this may be standard.

Showers then off to shopping centre in the car as it is raining steadily . Glyn buys suitcase so that clothes can be packed flat and not get so creased. Supermarket to get food for meals. Now we are staying at hostels with kitchen facilities, the plan is to feed ourselves as if at home. Buy quite a lot of fruit and veg (been deficient recently), chicken for tonight, beef for tomorrow and pasta for day after. Breakfast stuff, bread, eggs, cereal, marg, marmalade, milk, sugar. Six pack of beers and couple bottles of wine. Need to work out system for storing stuff in car as we move - really need a cool box or bag and a cardboard box for dry goods. Take our supplies home, open bottle of wine and cook stir fry chicken. Tangelo's (cross orange, tangerine, grapefruit) for dessert. Talk to two German girls as we eat, and they recommend some hostels on North Island. Also The Villa at Picton where we will be Sunday, Monday. (They recommend Rainbow Lodge, 07 378 5754, at Lake Taupo and Mahana Homestead Lodge, 03 579 8373, on Queen Charlotte Walkway, Endeavour Inlet, also Howards Lodge, 07 892 2827, Tongariro and a B&B at Miranda, Coromandel run by Scots).

After dinner, Glyn is happy ironing and packing her new bag. We are quite comfortable here but will have to move on in the morning.

Sunday 8^th December 2002
Sleep fairly well but Glyn up at 0830. Make breakfast but Pete puts salt on cereal instead of sugar which is not a good start. Pack up and leave by 0930. Raining steadily as we set off up "Highway" 1, north towards Kaikoura. Both feeling zombie like from jet lag, but by lunchtime start to improve.

Initially landscape very flat, Canterbury Plains, but as we progress hills form and after Cheviot pass between Mt Parnassus (697m 2287') and Mt Wilson (644m 2112'). At Oaro south of Kaikoura road meets the sea and see seal high up on rock. On closer inspection decide is Sea Lion, but later discover is Fur Seal. Must find out what the difference is. Stop in Kaikoura and visit information office. Buy NZ mapbook, postcards and pick up more leaflets. Still raining. Go into café at Backpackers for two teas and cookies. Walk through town and get some more groceries, and at hardware shop get storage box and cool bag in order to organise our supplies.
After Kaikoura road hugs the coast and the Seaward Kaikoura Range rises to 2609m (8560') although we couldn't see much as lost in cloud. Gradually rain eases as we pass through Blenheim and into Picton where we stop to look at map only to find that our hostel "The Villa" is just across the road! Check in, nice room. Make tea. Busy hostel makes us feel a bit isolated. When first arrive and know no-one people don't always seem friendly, but think in reality everyone feels much the same and takes a while to break the ice. Escape for a walk round Picton and out on Victoria Domain. Meet some nice dogs - Glyn still missing Taffy.

Hostel does free apple crumble and ice cream at 1930 and while we are preparing our beef stir-fry a long queue forms through the kitchen. Pete waits until the end but plenty left - very nice! Dinner good too. People seem friendlier and Glyn looks for someone to feed - starts to think she should be feeding all these people! After dinner sit and talk to Irish couple (from Dublin) who have been doing much the same as us (Vietnam & Cambodia too). They are off to walk some of Queen Charlotte for a couple of days tomorrow. Have some laughs over our experiences in Asia.

Use Internet computer at hostel to send mail but get error after sending so don't know whether it has gone or not. Don't seem to have any new mail, but manage to check bank statement.

Check location of next hostel on map and appears to be at end of long unsealed road. Could be a problem as car hire specifically excludes unsealed roads. Will have to ring and check it out.

Monday 9^th December 2002
Up in time for free breakfast (toast & cereals). Bit of press in kitchen. Ring Hopewell hostel - they recommend leaving car at Te Mahia and taking water taxi to hostel. So book two places on taxi for 1600 Tuesday.

Weather is dry, mostly sunny. Take car up to Victoria Domain and walk out to The Snout (the end of the peninsular). A walk in the woods. Track a bit up and down, tests Glyn's knees. Takes about 1hr 40mins each way. Stop and eat packed lunch at the end. Glyn hides in a bush, Pete doesn't. Vegetation very interesting, recognise hebe, pittosporum, Himalyan honeysuckle(?), gorse, broom and foxgloves. Also one called poroporo (solanum, same family as potato and deadly nightshade). Another plant had berries like elderberry but different foliage. A number of different ferns including tree ferns. Also see several different birds including one that might have been a fantail as it spread its tail in a fan (really?), and one that we later discover is Californian Quail with a strange crest. Views of Queen Charlotte Sound are excellent, watch the ferry and a number of sailing boats and motor cruisers. All the slopes are heavily wooded.

Got back mid-afternoon, made tea and sat on verandah reading books. Feel quite comfortable at the hostel now. Pete discovers that his arms and neck are burnt - should have joined Glyn under bush after all. Glyn does a load of washing that goes out on line. Walk down to seafront and play a round of Kiwi Golf (crazy golf). Excellent course, should have one of these in Torridon. 18 holes, par 57. Pete returns in 11 over par, but Glyn 18 over. First "golf" since leaving Cambridge. Now that the sun has moved round the views down the sound are excellent, and both feel quite well disposed towards Picton. Glyn's knees OK after earlier exertions.

Walk back via High Street and call into nice souvenir shop with Internet access to enquire about laptop connection. Shop owner doesn't think he can help but is persuaded to try, so we nip back to hostel to fetch computer and (Phil's ethernet) cable. Connect up and works. Some trouble sending email, think some people on A List may have received multiple copies so they might be a bit fed up (oops!). Shopkeeper clearly Scots. In fact from Aberdeen and various other places. Talk for a while and show him website. He is pleased and thinks he might now be able to connect other people with laptops. Have to hurry off though 'cos time for apple crumble. Pasta for tea (yippee!!).

Tuesday 10^th December 2002
Four weeks today. Left the Villa, picked up supplies for next three days, and set off along Queen Charlotte Drive towards Havelock. Great elevated views of the sounds. Isolated communities in picturesque bays (e.g. Governor's bay), tempted to walk down to beach but decided against. Stopped at Momorangi Bay for teas and Kit Kat. Despite it still being early we pressed on to Te Mahia thinking we might catch earlier taxi. Road to Te Mahia marked as unsealed on map but actually sealed road all the way. Wait for taxi driver but he doesn't appear - apparently only runs if has bookings. While waiting, experiment with arranging car seats to see if could sleep in car at a pinch. Not entirely convinced.

While waiting drive up to Queen Charlotte Track and Pete walks up to lookout point. The track is a broad path and for large parts appears to run quite close to the road. Doesn't really give the feel of wilderness walking. Back to taxi for 4.00pm. Group of four also waiting - going to Portage. Driver arrives and we set off. Although Hopewell directly opposite us we go to Portage first, getting a free tour into the bargain!

Arrive at Hopewell and sound horn. Mike and Lynley come down to the jetty to welcome us, show us the hot spa, make us tea and offer homemade biccies. We feel good already. Our room is one of the original cabins and the showers and loos are in a separate cabin about 10 yards away. They have renovated a number of rooms over the winter which are now ensuite. There are free kayaks and dinghies, hand lines and fishing tackle, wellie boots, lifejackets. A one-off fee of $5 gives unlimited use of spa, another $5 for a fishing rod. There is a golf course just down the road and clubs are available for hire. There is even a trampoline for guest use. A very good deal all round. The kitchen and lounge are comfortable but too small for the numbers - they have plans to replace them completely. There is a separate barbecue, covered patio area, lawn with excellent views that forms a focal point.

We settle in kitchen and talk to fellow travellers as we prepare dinner - tinned "steak" and three veg. A Japanese couple have caught a snapper for their tea. Pete gets a pancake from two young German girls! Then later retire to patio and chat into the night. Glyn hurt her back on the boat and goes to bed early.

Wednesday 11^th December 2002

After breakfast we equip ourselves with boots, lifejackets, hand lines, squid bait and take dinghy out to platform moored just off shore. We are in search of Red Snapper. Glyn quickly catches something that we believe is Spotty. This we add to our bait supply. Pete catches another with some blue scales. Both have sharp little teeth like piranha. After an hour or so we decide to come in and collect mussels and oysters from the beach. The Japanese abscond with the boat! Later Pete takes out a kayak and does some more fishing before paddling up the coast a little way. It is quite windy with some strong gusts so doesn't risk going far from shore. The Japanese have caught two snapper - damn them. We plan to attack them when they come ashore!

We have made friends with an Israeli couple (David & Hagar) and we all decide to go out to fish again. (Pete also gets half a waffle from Brenda & Chris! Glyn refuses to bake flapjack.) We catch 4 or 5 Spotties but still no snapper. David seems to have most success - must be cheating. Glyn takes notes and decides to go for smaller hook and bait and almost immediately catches a snapper (see, size does matter!). Phew.

All come ashore and prepare shellfish. David (was a chef) fillets and seasons (and some!) the fish. Eventually we eat. All good but David and Hagar manage to convince us that the Spotties are not nice. Finish up the wine. Snapper is excellent. Coffee on the patio. Do some star gazing - should we be able to see Orion? Cloudy to the South so no Southern Cross. Pete has a quiet go on the trampoline (in the dark) when no-one looking. An excellent day.

Thursday 12^th December 2002
Weather not so good today. After breakfast collect some more mussels and oysters. David and Hagar leave - we exchange addresses. Book accommodation for the four days that we had left blank. One day at the Innlet on Golden Bay and three days at the Old Slaughterhouse, Hector (north west coast). Both places recommended by people we have met. Sit on patio updating diary.

We have finally identified the Tui that make the magical piping and whistling noises in the bush. A medium sized black bird with a tuft of white feathers on its throat.

Rain stops and we walk along the road from the hostel a way. There is a smart lodge hotel in next bay where there is a wedding on Saturday. A large group of the guests, and the bride, are staying at Hopewell with us. They are nice but a large group does present problems as they monopolise the facilities. Along the road are large tree ferns. They look like palm trees.

After lunch Pete goes kayaking and then again with a fishing line. Catches one spotty but no-one catches snapper today. Later spend quite a while bringing log up to date. We have been busy the last few days. Unfortunately the rain has meant that Pete didn't play golf and didn't do a major walk, but it has been very relaxing.

Mussels and oysters for dinner again. Pete is shown how to open oysters and eats one raw - on strong recommendation of fellow traveller. Is actually OK but leaves an aftertaste. After dinner play Trivial Pursuit with a German couple. Glyn and Marianne eventually defeat Pete and Karsten - a bit tricky with German language and NZ questions! Weather deteriorates through evening and is quite stormy for a while.

We have really enjoyed staying at Hopewell. Mike and Lynley have been great hosts and for us has been much better than staying at hotel.